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DINING OUT

BUDDY V’S RISTORANTE, GRAND CANAL SHOPPES, 3327 LAS VEGAS BLVD. SOUTH

Buddy V’s, from “Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro, opened Monday, offering updated versions of Italian-American dishes, including Valastro family favorites. The restaurant’s metal-and-glass entrance is designed to evoke the Lackawanna train station in Hoboken, N.J., near Valastro’s grandmother’s home, and his grandmother’s traditional Sunday dinners are the overall theme. Valastro’s partners in the venture are longtime local restaurateurs Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla. Here’s a sample from the menu:

Appetizers: pasta e fagioli, $9; macaroni &cheese carbonara, $12; My Wife’s Eggplant Parm, $12; mozzarella en carozza, $12; turkey meatball, $12 Entrees: grilled swordfish peperonata, $29; chicken picatta, $26; veal osso buco, $38; steak pizzaiolo, $36; sea scallops, $32; chicken Parm, $23

Desserts: Buddy’s XL lobster tail (custard cream, flaky pastry and fruit), $15; Italian birthday bake, $9; Lisa’s warm Nutella bake, $9; carnival-style zeppole, $9; cannoli dip, $9

Hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Call 702-607-2355.

NEW BOOKS FOR COOKS

LEMON FIG CAKE

½ cup olive oil, plus more for pan

½ cup milk

1 large egg

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

10 ounces dried figs, stemmed and coarsely chopped (about 1½ cups)

1½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with oil.

In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together oil, milk and egg. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; add milk mixture and stir with a flexible spatula just until smooth (do not overmix). Gently fold in figs and lemon zest.

Transfer batter to prepared pan; set pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden and a cake tester comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack to cool completely. (Cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to one day.)

— Recipe from “Martha Stewart’s Cakes” (Clarkson Potter, New York; $24.99)

— Heidi Knapp Rinella